Protect Ecosystem Services

Biodiversity is under increasing pressure world-wide and destruction of habitats such as tropical forests is the leading cause of biodiversity loss. The World Land Trust (WLT) works with local partners to purchase and restore key habitats to protect biodiversity.

As well as supporting threatened wildlife these habitats perform a variety of Ecosystem Services of vital importance to people. Probably the best known service is carbon storage and sequestration. Other important functions include the stabilisation and purification of water supplies, regulation of local weather and provision of shelter for the insect populations that pollinate food crops. By safeguarding habitats such as tropical forests WLT projects help protect the ecosystem services on which we all depend.

WLT's Ecosystem Services projects

WLT’s Carbon Balanced programme enables individuals and small to medium sized businesses to offset their CO2 emissions. By doing so, they also help conserve some of the Earth's most threatened habitats and wildlife.

Up to 18 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions are caused by forest destruction and damage. By protecting forests that are in imminent threat of destruction, WLT is tackling the threat of dangerous climate change. This process of reducing deforestation and forest degradation is known as REDD+ . We are currently working on one validated REDD+ project in Paraguay, the Paraguay Forest Conservation Project.

WLT works with partner organisations in regions of the world that have suffered extensive environmental damage and habitat loss. Once WLT has helped its partner create a protected nature reserve, it is sometimes necessary to improve or expand this forest habitat through reforestation and habitat restoration.

The reserves that WLT fund often safeguard natural resources that are vital to people, such as watersheds. Find out how projects in Ecuador, such as those in Yanacocha and Rio Nea, protect community water supplies.